Felix is his real name.
It's not like it's some weird, convoluted symbolism thing like he has managed to weave for his oh-so-loyal partner. Felix just doesn't need to hide behind a mask. It's as simple as that. He knows who he is. He is Felix, and Felix is fucking awesome.
Locus? Locus is insane. Locus is broken. Well, no, not really. Felix supposes what's really broken is the shell of the man Locus was before the lunatic decided to name himself after his goddamn armor. Before he decided to shed his humanity, to try to achieve perfection by leaving behind silly things like empathy and morals. Locus isn't a person; Locus is a suit of armor that does as he's told. An occasionally mouthy suit of armor, but still. Easy to control.
Much easier, now that he's shed his identity. His own name.
Now, who would give Locus such an idea?
And Felix definitely isn't first name Agent last name Washington. The man – he was still a man, which made him the subject of Locus' incredibly annoying study – who had his name stolen from him. David Mc-Who-Gives-A-Fuck, erased by Project Freelancer. So they could mold him. Shape him.
Well, Project Freelancer sure messed that up. Like, really, how much more obvious can it be? Other than a flair for the dramatic and some sort of freaking fetish for cryptic one-liners, Washington is still remarkably ordinary. Very human, despite being named for a dull and rainy landmass. Felix can see that. Appreciates it, quite frankly. It is so much more satisfying to wrench a knife through some kid-soldier's gut knowing how much it's going to hurt their old, broken CO.
And since Felix doesn't have some fucking revenge boner, he doesn't need a supervillain name like Fishstick. Okay, so maybe it was 'Sharkface,' but still, really? Sharkface? Dude didn't even paint his helmet to look like…well…a shark face.
Sometimes, Felix swears he is the only normal one around here.
He doesn't need to hide behind some made-up name. He's not a suit of armor, he's not a state, and he's not the anterior half of a fish.
He is Felix.
He's a mercenary. A mercenary, not a soldier. There is an important distinction. Felix knows, because he has been both. A merc is free. A good mercenary, a successful mercenary, can be picky about the jobs he takes. Like, a stealth assassination of a middle-rank officer? Not terribly interesting. Toying with children until they kill each other, and actually getting paid to do it this time? Much more enjoyable. Even gets to partake in some of the slaughter, which is always therapeutic.
He is Felix. He's not a soldier. A soldier gets screamed at by his family name all day. A soldier cannot choose which jobs to complete. And sure, while being a soldier absolves most of the questions about things like 'torture' or 'right and wrong' or 'unprovoked killing sprees' it still comes along with a CO, with guidelines and rules and objectives that he didn't set.
(Felix didn't drop his last name for symbolic reasons, by the way. It's just because he was so fucking sick of hearing it by the time the war was over. It has nothing to do with control.)
He is Felix. He is a killer. He is manipulative and cunning. The puppeteer. He enjoys his work, and that's important, isn't it? He loves to savor his victories, cannot contain his excitement at the thought of slowly bringing the next knife from Tucker's stomach up through his heart (and wouldn't it just be perfect if a certain state was watching?), relishes comparing kill counts with his broken partner.
He is Felix. That is his name. No lies, no symbolism, no smoke and mirror bullshit. He is completely comfortable with that, because he knows who he is.
He is Felix, and he is fucking awesome.
AN: Yup, I'm on a Felix kick right now. He is probably one of my favorite characters - legitimate psychopaths are so much fun. If you would like to see a specific scene or prompt regarding Felix or Locus, let me know!